You’ve finally decided on the university you want to attend but it’s miles from home. On-campus housing is a possibility, but we want our freedom so off-campus housing it is. Choosing a place, moving in, setting everything up, and new housemates – phew, that’s a lot to deal with! Fast forward a little and you’re all settled in… if you have an Internet connection. Because, let’s face it, we do everything on the Internet now.

What do you do if Internet connectivity is not included in the rent? Don’t stress. Here are some key points to consider when selecting the best plan or provider for your needs.

Speed

Considering our lives are on the Internet now, speed is a must. No ifs, ands, or buts. We need our Netflix and chill, Twitch, Steam, the works! Seeing as you’ll probably be sharing a place with at least 2 or 3 other students, a minimum speed of 100Mbps is probably best. Although you could go up to 500Mbps if you really want to make sure you’ve got yourself covered.

Bandwidth

Whatever speed you end up subscribing to, that’s also the bandwidth you’re looking at. The higher the bandwidth, the more devices you can connect to your network without compromising speed. Try thinking of bandwidth as a highway. More “lanes” or higher bandwidth equals more “cars” or devices. As a general rule of thumb, 100Mbps will support up to 6 connected devices while 500Mbps will support 8 or more connected devices.

Price

We left this for last but it’s probably one of the most important factors when deciding which Internet plan to subscribe to. You don’t want to spend too much but you do need to spend enough on a decently priced plan that meets your needs. For example, a 100Mbps plan at RM149/month is roughly about RM38 a person when split amongst 4 housemates.

Internet Service Provider

Lowest Price Point

Highest Price Point

Symmetrical Speeds

Contract Period

TIME Fibre Home Broadband

100Mbps @ RM149/mth

500Mbps @ RM299/mth

Yes

24 months

TM UniFi

10Mbps @ RM129/mth

100Mbps @ RM329/mth

No

24 months

MaxisOne Home Broadband

10Mbps @ RM139/mth

100Mbps @ RM299/mth

Yes

24 months

Celcom Home Fibre

10Mbps @ RM120/mth

40Mbps @ RM180/mth

Yes

24 months

There you go! Now you’re ready to go get yourself that Internet connection you badly need.